Croshen Islands
Introduction Croshen Island is a chain of over 100 islands located in the northern east blue, it has 20 larger islands where the main cities are located with the remaining islands being small with large villages or towns located on them. The people of these silands The Croshenese are known for their powerful warrior and determind indipendance. Every member is refered to as a Son/Daughter of Croshen and two of it's most famous children are Zero and Ayane Hotaru members of The Sea Devil Pirates. History Geography The Main Island is a large island and has 3 large cities and 6 large villages surrounded by smaller islands with various villages on them. While the closer islands have the same skin tone as the main island the northern islands have noticably darker skin due to the small amount of bad wather they get. The citizens on these islands are called The Northerners or North Croshenese. While those on the main island and closer islands are called Mainers or Croshenese. Architecture Common aritechture on the island invovles pagoda style roofs and dragon like statues which symbolise good luck and strength of heart. also the walls of the buildings are commonly panneled (excluding the major buildings which are stone). Another common feature is the warrior statues at every entrance to the cities and towns which symbolise protection and the willingness to fight. Culture & Government Tattoos Tattoos are also important in The Croshenese Culture, The Main Island tattoos show tgiers, dragons (and other mythical creatures), ancient warriors and clouds (see pic to the right for full details). Northern Islands tattoos are very different depicting intricate patterns and faces of tribal like lines. (see pic on lower right for more details). Royalty While the current dynasty is very humble for their status they have set traditions they serve. The High King is the head preist meaning he must attend all the big religious festivals and offerings. A new tradition is that the royal family always pay respects to warriros who have died in battle and in some cases visit the fallen warrior's family to pray with them and to convey gifts. Warriors The warriors pride honor, combat, loyalty and an honorable death above all else, many will gladly die fo r their king, friends, family and gods without a second thought. During the period the World Government called The Void Century a warrior named Imshadi held off hundreds of enemy warriors before dieing standing in the middle of the canyon he was defending. He became known as The Envoy of War as before his death he was known as a loyal and passionate warrior who fought with the power of Lian-Sha himself. Battle cries are also very important warriors work on their battle cries so when an army lets loose their collective cries it sounds like a dragon is standing before their enemies. The warriors also refer to eachother as War-Brother/Sister, showing that they are a family that will fight and die together. The Navy and Privateers however refer to eachother as Wave-Brother/Sister. The Northerners are masterful scouts, skirmishers and hunters. They are used in hit and runs tactics or as scouts watching the enemies of the crown. They also make great hunters of any kind, making them deadly bounty hunters. They also make great sailors and navigators. When fighting in a unit they operation in small platoons known as Dà zhànduì (War Team). These groups have 5-10 fighters all working as a light raiding p arty. Common weapons include swords (of various sizes), spears, axes, spiked or blade edged shields and guns. Northern Warriors don't use shields or firearms prefering bow and arrows along side the swords and other weapons common with the Mainer Warriors. THe uniforms are also very unique. Officers normally wear ornate looking armor of various styles and bulk. Warriors can coose the kind fo armor they wish to wear but it isn't uncommon for a warrior to wear family armor. Officers also wear capes of different colours depending on which branch of the military, The Croshenese Marines wear black with blue on the inside, The Army wears dark red with green on the insdie and The Navy wears black with blue on the inside. Spritual List of Gods Tai-Kian: King of the Gods and god of time. Micha-Kian: Queen of the Gods and guardian of woman and godess of childbirth. Lian-Sha: God of War, Storms & Protection Mai-sha: Godess of Love & Wisdom Nichi-Vash: God of Honored Death, Trials & The Finsha (afterlife) Hou-Min: God of Nature, Animals, Hunters and Magic Gin-Lia: God of Justice and Honor Mon-Jak: Godess of the Moon and Night Son-Jak: Godess of the Sun and Day Ton-Jak: God of Dreams and Nightmares The Four Siblings: Gods/Godesses of Wind, Fire, Earth and Water Han-Lia: God of Song, Dance and Celebration Rok-Nai: God of Craftsmen, Monuments & Memorial The Croshenese customarily build temples for each of their gods in the cities. But in small villages and towns they build shrines, these are commanly places for prayer and meetings. Also many homes have personal shrines that are tied to a single god. The preists also follow the paths of their gods for example the Warrior God's preists are warrior preists who are amazingly talented in the Islands' martial arts. while the Wisdom Godess' preists are scholars and wisemen. Burials Burials are a highly sacred event for The Croshenese. The ceremony follows strict rules depending on the type of person who died. A warrior's burial for example is different from a craftsman burial. The warrior is brought out of the "resting Hall" by his War-Brothers to be cremated on a funeral pyre. During the time the body is reduced to ash the warriors will let out battle cries to warn the afterlife a proud and deadly warrior will join it soon. A Craftsman's burial will be simple the craftsman will be brought out of the Resting Hall same as the warrior but instead of being cremated on a funeral pyre the craftsman is cremated in his forge (if a weaponsmith or armorsmith). The forge and all the craftsman's tools will pass on to his son or apprentice. Family The Family Clans around the islands are very important to their culture. Everyone is tied to a clan in some way either by marrige, bloodline or friendship. To be part of a clan means you have allies for any situation. Out of all the clans there are 4 who rank the most influentual and powerful. *'Hotaru Clan:' The Hotaru Clan are the top for one simple reason they are the royal clan. The High King is the head of the main branch and overall leader of the clan itself. Zero's father leads the 2nd branch and his uncle leads the 3rd branch. Zero's father also leads the Royal Guard while his uncle leads the Croshen Armed Forces as the Commander-in-Chief and Minister of Defence. Despite these postions and power the clan is actually one of the smallest boasting only 15,000 members, with 6,000 in The Royal Guard. *'Akage Clan:' The Akage Clan are a powerful clan known for being at the front of most conflicts. Their head Doto Akage is the Supreme General of the Croshenese Army and is known for his aggressive tactics and powerful left hook. They are one of the larger clans boasting 45,000 *'Kuro Clan:' One of the smaller clans but no where close to being weak. Their head Akiji Taka is the head of Military Intelligence and one fo the greatest female assassins in the Islands. Though retired from field work after her 4th child was born she hasn't let her skills dull at all. *'Taka Clan:' Technicly a sub-clan under the Kuro Clan the Taka clan is lead by Shigure Taka and is deputy head of Military Intelligence. Like her cousin-in-law Akiji she is a deadly assassin but unlike Akiji she still goes out to aid her men and women in the deadliest of missions. Government The government is run by The High-King and The Council. The King deals with matters of conflict, celebrations and religious matters and The Council delt with every day matters like trade, money and law. Thought the King commanly got invoveled in serious issues. During one case a known outlaw was wandering the Capital City and the King himself hunted him down and arrested him after breaking his arms beyond repair. Law The Croshenese aren't as strict with laws like the World Government. Robberies and minor assualts like a violent mugging are generally delt with by any warriors near by. Murders and more serious crimes are generally delt with by the local law enforcement know as the Dìng shǒuwèi or Order Guard. The Dìng shǒuwèi are genreally retired warriros who still want to take an active role in the protection of their homes. They also aid in dealing with Insurgants from the near by Kondin Islands, mainly due to their experience and combat skills. Language The Croshenese language is unique in it's own right. They can speak the same language as the rest of the world and use it as a trade langauge, however they prefer to use their own language when talking to eachother. The written language is also very unique for example "白龍群島" means "The islands of white dragons" which is an alias or The Croshenese Islands. Military The Croshenese people have 3 branches to their military; The Army, The Navy and The Marines. All three of the branches are powerful and able to match The Marines with ease despite being outnumbered greatly. Within the three branches there are two unique arms. The first being the Croshen Privateers a secrective side to The Navy.due to the un-easy treaty with the World Government the Croshenese Royal Family can't openly engage them in combat so they have their own personal pirate force fight for them. The second arm is The Royal Guard, these warriors are some of the best in the Croshenese kingdom and are nearly always lead by a member of the Hotaru Family (two brief moments in the Croshenese history where a tempoary leader was apointed). The Rank structure is similar to The Marines of the World Government except with seperate ranks for each branch: *'Supreme General' (Army/Marines), Fleet Admiral (Navy) *'Command General' (Army/Maines), High Admiral (Navy) *'General' (Army/Marines), Rear Admiral (Navy) *'Lt General' (Army/Marines), Commandore (Navy) *'High Colonel' (Army/Marines), Sea Commander (Navy) *'Colonel' (Army/Marines), Commander (Navy) *'Lt Colonel' (Army/Marines), Lt Commander (Navy) *'Major' (Army/Marines), Captain (Navy) *'Captain' (Army/Marines), Lt Captain (Navy) *'1st Lieutenant' (Army/Marines), Lieutenant of the Sea (Navy) *'2nd Lieutenant' (Army/Marines), Lieutenant Junior Grade (Navy) *'Army/Marine Sergeant' (Army/Marines), Ensign (Navy) *'1st Sergeant' (Army/Marines), Master Chief of the Navy (Navy) *'2nd Sergeant' (Army/Marines), Master Chief (Navy) *'Segeant' (Army/Marines), Chief Petty Officer (Navy) *'Corporal' (Army/Marines), Petty Officer (Navy) *'Junior Corporal' (Army/Marines), Crewman First Class (Navy) *'Trooper First Class' (Army/Marines), Crewman (Navy) *'Trooper' (Army/Marines), Crewman Recruit (Navy) Weapons Due to the Croshenese ideal of indipendance they do not go by the Wazamono grade (despite Croshenese weapons being graded that way outside the islands). Also every blade, spear, axe, gun, bow or staff is given a name by either the owner or the weaponsmith who made the item. These are the grades of weapons: *'Emperor Grade:' Equal to Saijo O Wazamono Grade *'King Grade:' Equal to O Wazamono Grade *'Prince Grade:' Equal to Ryo Wazamono Grade *'Noble Grade:' Equal to Wazamono Grade Wildlife The Croshen Islands have unique creatures spread all over them. The most unique are Dragons! While these aren't the same as dragon of legends they are reverd as the same creatures, there are three distinct types on the islands. The first are the Wave Dragons or Sea Kings to everyone else, in the Croshenese religion they are the Sea God's envoys and a sign that the waters are healthy. Another type is The Land Dragons or Mountain Dragons, these are very aggressive to the point killing one is a great feat. The most dangerous sub-species of Land dragon is The Daimond Back Dragon, the scales on the back of these beasts are so strong nothing can break them so hunting them is a challenge unless you can attack it from below. The final type of Dragon is the Sky Dragons which are like the other dragons of legend but alot smaller about the size of a Marine warship. They also can't breath fire but they are hard to spot and hear due to their ability to glide for miles and dive that amazing speeds. Trivia THe architexture, fighting styles, weapons and armor/uniforms are based on Japanese and Chinese cultures (excluding the Northern islands which have more incomman with Maori/Native American culture). The general attitude from the people are based on a mix of Bushido and various cultures in the south pasific (a strong sense of a national family). The language is simply chinese. While the people of the islands have various hair colours. It isn't uncommon to see white hair, this is apparently due to a legend that when the War God himself aiding in a brutal conflict all who stood with him gained ghost white hair after the conflict was over. As a sign of their courage and loyalty. This passed down the family line and spread across the islands. Category:East Blue Location Category:Location Category:Yaminogaijin Category:Island Category:Kingdom